Don't Look Behind the Curtain
by Motherthing
Summary: Bella has 'hidden disabilities' that she must deal with every day. How will the students at her new school treat her?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Standard disclaimer applies. SM owns it all, I'm just cooking in her kitchen...

Carlisle Cullen was the most tired he'd been since his internship in Chicago. Being a General Practitioner in a small town like Forks, Washington was as busy and draining as the hours he'd pulled at Chicago Memorial all those years ago. 'Slow down, they said. Go be a small town doctor and semi-retire, they said. Spend time with the wife and kids, they said.' rolled through his thoughts on this Friday afternoon in the first week of October, He had only two short appointments after lunch and this school physical now before he could go home and take a nap before his son's first basketball game of the season. He was grateful that it was at least a home game so he wouldn't have much of a drive to get home that night.

So far this week he'd delivered two babies, set one broken arm for an enthusiastic eight year old on his first tree-climb and stabilized one heart attack before life-flighting the 72 year old man on to Seattle, all in addition to his two ER rotations in the local hospital and his usual office hours in his private practice. Semi-retirement wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

He finished charting his last patient and met his nurse, Sheila, in the hall on the way to the next one. He saw the thick file and frowned down at her. "Does this one keep all her records in her own hands? Good grief, that must be an inch thick!"

Sheila gave him a sour look and responded, "All? This is just this year's alone! You should see the rest of the pile on your desk. I guarantee you this one will take a while."

With a look of shock on his face he just stared at her for a few seconds. "Well, I guess you'd better shift my two follow-ups this afternoon to Dr. Gerandy's clinic so I can do a good work-up on her. It looks like it'll take a while."

Taking the file from Sheila's hands he walked to the exam room, knocked on the door and hearing a quiet assent opened the door.

"Hello Miss Swan, I'm Dr. Cullen but you can call me Carlisle, I have a feeling we're going to be seeing a lot of each other." could be heard as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

Charlie Swan was so surprised that his normally quiet disposition went flying out the window when he got home. "Is this what your mother wouldn't tell me about, Bella? You need a doctor's release not only from gym but to use the elevator? And these prescriptions! One for a cane, one for a back brace and all these drugs! It looks like an addict's dream here. Let's see...a high dose of Motrin, an antidepressant, an anti-anxiety, a muscle relaxant and enough narcotic pain medication to open my own pharmacy! At least three of these are scheduled drugs! What the hell have you been doing?" He only slowed when he realized just how upset his daughter was by his reaction.

She finally just shrieked back at him, "Yeah, Charlie! I'm running illegal drugs out of the freaking Chief of Police's house! I managed to con a doctor I've never seen before to supply me with drugs that I don't need or use just on my say-so! This is why Mom and I never told you about this. All you needed to know was the diagnosis, not the reality of the pain control problems. I won't use a cane, I can't stand the thought of it. My rolling backpack will give me enough support if I'm careful and I swear you won't have to pay for a brace because I refuse to wear one of those torture devices. Yes, I do need the elevator because of pulling the backpack but that isn't as obvious as the rest. As for the drugs, Dr. Cullen insisted on stronger pain meds because of the change in climate. One day in this cold, green hell and I can barely move!"

She finally ran out of steam and sat down at the kitchen table. "Dad, he spent over an hour and a half with me on my history and confirming all the medicines and accommodations. What else can I do? I hate taking the pills. They make me sick and I can't eat, but if I don't eat I have even more trouble keeping them down. I don't even come close to being an addict. If I could get away with never taking them again I would." Her sigh was deep and sad. She hated talking about this with anyone, especially her dad. She really wished she could talk to her mom but that was no longer possible since the accident killed both her mom and her stepdad. Alone, that was all she could feel at this point.

Edward Cullen was on a natural high! It was only halfway through the first quarter and he already had scored ten points and assisted with six more. At 6'3" he was the perfect height for post forward for his basketball team. Their fast break was killing the guys from Port Angeles and his fall-away jump shot was making it worse for their opponents.

At two minutes left in the quarter he went up for another jumper and knew there was something wrong on the way down. The guy guarding him had not even tried to block his shot but instead had slid his foot just far enough under Edward's dropping feet for him to come down wrong. He screamed as the pain flared through his ankle up to his knee. Before he knew what was happening his dad was there, holding him as still as possible. The team trainer was there with an immobilizer before Dr. Cullen could even ask for one. "Eric, let's get him straight to my car and I'll get him to the hospital for an x-ray STAT." Not knowing anything more than that it hurt, Edward tried to argue, "Dad! I have to stay for the game, we can get an x-ray once we've finished this!"

"Son, you've played all you're going to play for tonight and maybe for a long time. Now stop arguing and let us get you help NOW." Carlisle had seen how far his son's ankle had twisted and heard a pop even over the crowd noise. He couldn't be sure how bad it was, but he was pretty sure his son's season was over.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Sorry about the delay. Health issues and an accident made me more than two weeks later than planned. Thanks for hanging in there for me!

Standard Disclaimer applies.

EPOV

This had to be the worst day of his life. The pain, the cast, the crutches and the knowledge that his junior year basketball season was over made him blind to everyone else. He knew that they would get out of his way, the stigma of what he had to use to get around the school meant most of his classmates would avoid him like the plague.

He had to show up early to get the key to the elevator from the secretary and he dreaded that conversation. She would be so sorry about his 'accident' and so concerned-like hell, he knew she was just wanting the best gossip straight from him. Everyone knew that Hunter from the PA team had deliberately gotten underneath him to stop his power play. What no one was sure of was if he would have another season at all. The damage was extensive and he still had to go to the Osteo hospital in Seattle to know more.

His anger was becoming a beast of its own will. He hadn't hit resentment or even sadness yet on this journey through losing something so central to his life. He hated having to let his sister drive him to school. He _despised_ having to sleep in the downstairs guest bedroom. Worst of all was letting his mom bring his things down. Like any guy his age there were things in his room that were hidden from his mom that he used frequently but didn't _dare_ ask for her to find for him.

The trip to school was excruciating. He had to let Alice drive his car because he couldn't fit into hers with his cast, backpack and crutches. At least they could show up early so that he didn't have to gimp into the front office while the whole school looked on with pity. He hated that pity.

Alice held the door as he crutched his way into the office with all the paperwork to get the 'special access' he would need to get around. First was the elevator key, second was the permanent hall pass in case he couldn't make it fast enough between classes and last, but not least, the permission to carry his backpack to classes since his hands would be busy with the crutches. Forks was one of the schools that had fallen into the pack of fearmongers who were scared that at any second a kid would go postal and shoot up the place. All it really did was make it harder for kids to hit the bathroom or get a drink between classes.

"Oh, hello Edward!" Mrs. Cope greeted him, "I'm so sorry about the accident! The team sure will miss you the rest of the season. You can just go right in to Principal Greene's office to get your forms and I'll have the elevator key and hall pass ready for you when you come out." The sad smile on her face just made him grind his teeth a little harder as he forced himself to be polite. "Thanks Mrs. Cope. I'm sure it won't take long."

After Mr. Green signed off on all that paperwork Edward wanted to escape the office as quickly as possible. He almost slammed his crutch into the backpack of some kid waiting in the outer office. Even this early in the year the kid had his hood up and the long sleeves pulled down as far as possible. He wouldn't even make eye contact as Edward managed to get past him to the counter to get his key and pass. "Thanks again, Mrs. Cope," he tried to smile as he made his way out into the crowded hallways. He heard, "Mr. Greene will see you now, dear." as the door closed behind him.

DLBC

BPOV

Bella couldn't believe that someone would be so rude as to not at least apologize for slamming into her 'rolly' as she called her rolling backpack. It's not like it wasn't obviously next to her in the little outer office area. She had to wait to see the principal to get all of her paperwork signed and her classes approved. She knew that this would be a fight and a half after dealing with Charlie over the weekend. He _really_ didn't approve of her class choices but wouldn't go against her since her doctor approved of her taking auto shop as a form of physical and occupational therapy and had agreed that she would do well with it to keep her hands moving but not the tiny fine movement of using a pencil and taking notes that would end up causing more pain. She thanked the secretary as she rose and pulled her rolly into the principal's office.

"Have a seat, Isabella. Let's see, what do we want to go over first: class schedule, accommodations or medication release forms?"

She smiled at him and sat in the chair in front of his desk even though he hadn't even offered her a seat. "Well, Mr. Greene, first it's Bella and the rest we can go over as you choose. Each of your categories are stacked together so whichever you want to start with is fine with me. I take most of my medications at home so the only thing that will need to be kept in the nurse's lockbox is the narcotics that I take for breakthrough pain-"

"What do you mean narcotics? We can't have narcotics in this school! I won't have that kind of thing here!" You could hear the righteous indignation in his tone. He hadn't even bothered to look at the paperwork from Dr. Cullen yet. He knew that there was no way he would be responsible for street-drugs in his school!

Before his face could go from red to purple Bella broke in, "Mr. Greene! I know that by law your nurse's office is required to have a locking cabinet. Whatever medications that my doctor prescribes for me must be kept in that cabinet. The fact that some of them are scheduled drugs is irrelevant! I still have to come to get them from her and not carry them on my person around the school Now, shall we go on to the other things we have to deal with today?"

"I will need the key to the elevator since I have to use a rolling backpack for the books that I can't get electronically. I need permission to use my iPad in class for taking notes and writing assignments. I also understand that I will need a permanent hall pass because of my limited mobility. Mr. Greene, did you not read the letter from Dr. Cullen I dropped off here last Friday? He was very specific about my needs and had promised me that you would have no problems with his orders for me."

"I don't need to read a standard medical accommodation letter, Bella. I have been in this business for a long time now. Ok, moving on. I don't see how you can claim to be disabled enough in your hands to need a tablet device and still take auto shop. That forces you to use your hands in a big way and-"

"Precisely, Mr. Greene. The movements are different. I've been told that the shop is fully heated so the cold shouldn't be a problem and the physical exertion of using the tools will be considered my gross motor physical therapy. Mr. Greene, I really don't want to argue with you over all this. It is really simple. I have orders from Dr. Cullen that relate to my daily school activities that should be a simple sign-off for you. I need access to the elevator because of my rolling backpack, which I will use to carry the workbooks for my classes and my tablet for note taking and textbook retrieval. I need that fancy hall pass that allows me to take my time to get from class to class. What else is there? Dr. Cullen's orders were very specific to me and I don't understand why you are making such a fuss."

"Very well, Bella. I will sign off on all this right now but rest assured if you interfere in other students learning due to your 'special needs' I won't hesitate to change things as I see fit." Bella could feel the bristling speech for what it was. A power play to make sure she knew who was boss and his power over her.

Bella stood up with a sigh, "Thank you, Mr. Greene. Now if you would please sign the forms so I can make it to shop class before there will be no chance for me to meet the teacher this morning I would be grateful." She really needed to get out of this tin-pot dictator's office before she blew a fuse! Maybe it was being such a big fish in such a small pond that made him sound like a walrus roaring to defend his territory when that territory was just a small stretch of beach.

AN2 Short, I know, but wanted to get you interested in more rather than give up on someone who can't put out anything at all! Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

BPOV

Bella checked the clock on her way out of the office. The meeting with Mr. Greene had taken so long that it was almost time for the change of class bell to go off. Auto shop was the first class of her day, but it lasted two hours instead of just one. The schedule called for them to be in the shop during the first period and in class during the second.

Bella knew that if she made it to the classroom before the bell went off she wouldn't have to brave the chaos of the hallways during class break. The real problem with that was that not only was the shop and classroom the farthest from the office but due to the change in climate and her medications she was dealing with much more pain than she was used to and had to walk more slowly to be sure she didn't fall.

Sure, she could use her rolly to help but it could only do so much. She refused to use a cane and let everybody see just how weak she really was. Just as she was turning the last corner to the long hallway to shop class the bell rang and the corridor filled with students, all in a rush to make it to their lockers and their next class before the late bell rang.

She was caught in a sea of quickly moving students who only took enough notice of her to snarl at her to get out of the way or even kick her rolly and then make some remark about how she should know better than to carry a backpack. She was finally able to move to the side to get out of the middle of the hall and wait for the rush to end. Her arm was aching by the time she made it to the shop classroom. She just prayed she wouldn't have to hit the nurse's office for some painkillers this early in the day.

The metal doorknob felt cold on her aching hand making it that much harder to twist the knob and open the door. She felt a little clumsier than usual after fighting the tidal wave of students in the hallway. You would think that a school with a tenth of the numbers of her school in Phoenix wouldn't have such crowding in the halls between classes but no such luck for her. She ended up pulling her hoodie off her head in frustration as she finally wrestled the door open. Pulling her rolly inside she could hear a few catcalls from the back.

"Hey Coach, we're gonna need a new pink toolbox!" came from a guy with dark brown hair that looked like an old fashioned bowl cut. Next to him was a tall black boy that fistbumped him and added, "Yeah, isn't one skirt around here enough?"

"Crowley, Cheney! That's enough from the peanut gallery!" boomed from the front of the room. The large man looming in the front of the room turned to Bella and asked, "Are you sure you're in the right room Miss-?"

"Swan, Sir. Please call me Bella and yes, if you'll check my sign in sheet here you'll see that I am in the right place. The paperwork will explain everything." She handed over the papers and hoped she would be able to sit soon and not have to argue with someone else about her accommodations again today.

RPOV

As Rose was opening her text and notebook the door opened to reveal a small, brown haired girl pulling a rolling backpack behind her. As the idiots in the back tried to make fun, Rose noticed the girl's hands. The knuckles were swollen while the rest of the bones looked fragile. Good grief! Why would someone with rheumatoid arthritis take auto shop? Especially a girl! Immediately she determined to keep her recognition of the girl's condition to herself until she was ready to say anything about it. She noticed a slight limp as she walked to the seat behind her after giving Coach the paperwork she needed for him to sign before returning it to the office at the end of the day, proving that she'd managed to find all of her classes. The stack of papers was thicker than usual and Rosalie Whitlock wondered what all that was about just as the girl sat down in the desk behind her.

BPOV

Luckily the second seat in the row closest to the door was empty. The blonde girl in the first seat simply smiled at Bella as she sat in the chair and pulled out her iPad and workbook. It had to happen. She knew it was going to happen in every class. That didn't mean it was easy to deal with. The teacher immediately looked at her and told her, "Put that game away. Nobody uses electronics in my class and where is your textbook?"

"Sir, if you'll look at the papers I gave you, you'll see that I use the tablet as an accommodation with my book loaded onto it and I take notes on it. It has no games or any form of entertainment." She could feel her ire rising and having all this out in front of the whole class was truly humiliating. "May I remind you of the privacy laws that cover that information?" She hated sounding like such a priss but she felt the need to be careful to keep him from spreading everything to the whole class.

His face started turning a vivid red and he bellowed, "Whitlock!"

The blonde in front of her looked up quickly and said, "Yes Coach?"

"I expect you to give Swan here all the rules of both the shop and class before shop opens tomorrow. Clear?"

"Yes Coach!" snapped out of her so quickly that Bella was impressed by how a girl that beautiful could sound like a soldier taking orders.

The teacher obviously preferred to be called Coach so Bella made a mental note to remember that. He quickly turned to his lecture and assignment to be done before tomorrow's shop time. As the class time wound down Coach gave the standard reminder that no homework meant no shop time and no shop time meant losing the class.

As the bell rang and the students rushed to clear the room the tall blonde stood quickly and stepped behind Bella so that she could get out before the boys ran her down. "Go on. I'll hold 'em back for you." she said, then turned on her heel to stare down the two boys behind her. "Didn't your mommas teach you boys any manners?" came with a raised eyebrow and a lilting southern drawl.

Bella murmured a thank you as she quickly put her things back in the rolly and tried to get out of the door before being run down. She slid sideways as she exited and waited for the blonde girl to come out of the room, pulling her hoodie back up over her head.

RPOV

As Rose left the classroom she moved over next to the girl standing in the lee of the hallway and door of shop class. "Bella, right? I'm Rose. What's your next class?" Bella showed her the sign in sheet she had to return at the end of the day. "Languages and Language Arts are upstairs so let's get you to the elevator. I'll walk on your backpack side so we can get through this rough mob quicker." Before Bella could even ask what Rose was doing she said, "Don't worry, it's your business. I do recognize your difficulty but won't say anything to anybody, neither will my brother. Since we both have the same lunch would you like to sit with us?" The quiet brunette gave a startled "Sure." but couldn't say much.

Rose led her down the hall to the elevator which was just closing. Rose grabbed the safety door, holding it open for Bella and told the girl, "See you at lunch!" as the doors closed on her.

EPOV

What the hell? Rose stopped the doors and waited for some guy to get on the elevator without a key then said she'd see him at lunch? He wondered what Emmett would say if he knew how friendly Rose was with this wimpy little guy. He wouldn't even look Edward in the eye, keeping his head down with his hood up over his head. He couldn't even see his hands since he kept the long sleeves of his hoodie pulled down over them. That damned backpack was sure in the way, though. Edward was tall enough that the spread of his crutches took up the entire space of the back elevator wall. As the doors slowly opened he slammed past the shrimp, practically pulling that stupid pack from his hand, muttering "You shouldn't be using the elevator if you don't need it! Plus it's against the rules to have any kind of backpack in the halls, idiot!" As he left the guy in his wake he couldn't see how the rolling pack twisted in his hands and the wince that followed.

BPOV

Damn! That hurt! Bella finally managed to get off the elevator before it closed and looked for the Spanish classroom. After lunch she had AP Biology, AP English Literature and AP History, which meant another trip on the elevator from hell after Bio and then again down after school let out for the day. Good thing she had the permanent hall pass if she was going to have to keep dealing with assholes like the boys in the shop class and that tall guy on crutches. She could see his cast didn't go all the way to his knee so it was most likely a broken ankle. At least when the jerk was healed she wouldn't have to deal with him again.

Luckily she was relatively fluent in Spanish since she'd been taking it since eighth grade. She opened another heavy door to a class full of questioning eyes and some hostile looks when she approached the teacher with her papers and quietly presented the sign off sheet and the teacher's copy of her accommodations list. Using Spanish she quickly cut off the possible argument by pointing out to the teacher the list and politely asking that she not say anything in front of the others.

Little did she know that the blond boy in the back understood every word. Jasper Whitlock, Rosalie's twin brother, was only in here for the extra credit like Bella was. You had to fill your schedule here with classes even if you knew the subject. Bella was limping a little heavier on her way to the only open seat halfway down the second row, two seats in front of Jasper. She could hear the whispers "gimp" "slow" and even "princess" as she sat down and pulled out her tablet.

A blonde girl two rows over raised her hand and spoke up, "Senora Goff, isn't it against the rules to play video games during class?" with a sugary sweet smile for the teacher. Thankfully, the teacher stared the girl down and told her what other people used in class was none of her business-in Spanish no less. Which you could see was way beyond the poor airhead's skill level.

Bella managed to pay attention in class but only for so long. She'd been through so much today that she really needed to hit the nurse's office for some painkillers. She raised her hand about fifteen minutes before the end of class to ask for permission to go to the nurse's office. The blond boy in the back quickly volunteered to write down the homework assignment and give it to her later. Bella blushed fiercely and thanked him on her way out the door.

When she got to the elevator it took a moment to figure out how the key system worked but once she was on the way she felt better. She limped into the nurse's office and sat quietly in the chair set in the waiting area since the nurse was giving some kid with a headache some Tylenol.

The nurse turned to her as the boy left the office and smiled. "Hello Isabella! What can I do for you?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I really need one of my Vicodin please."

"Wow, that was quick. What's wrong?"

"Dr. Cullen put it in my information package that due to the change in climate and medications that I might need more breakthrough painkillers for the first few weeks and I really do need one, please." Being such a private person, Bella hoped that the nurse would stop asking questions.

"OK, Isabella, but if I feel that you are leaning on the pills too much I will be contacting the doctor and your father. I certainly didn't expect you to be here so early on your first day!"

"Ma'am, I don't mean to be rude but I need to take that pill quickly so I can get to the lunchroom and put some food on my stomach to cushion it. Please may I have it now?"

"Yes, yes, just give me a minute to unlock the cabinet." She really seemed to be taking her time getting to it but Bella had no choice but to wait for her pill.

"Here you go and I have to witness you taking the pill myself, dear."

Bella grimaced at the invasion but swallowed the pill quickly so she could get out of the office as soon as possible. Just as she was handing to small cup back to the nurse the bell rang for lunch and she almost started crying. She would be lucky to make it through the lunch line with any appetite with the crowds of everyone trying to make the most of what little time they had to eat.

Thanking the nurse she made her way in the general direction of the other lemmings, hoping that going in the same direction would make it just a little less difficult to get there.


End file.
